Bucket lists and Birthdays

In honor of my awesomesauce friend Laura Elliott's 50th birthday (woot woot! Happy Birthday girlfriend! *throws confetti*), she is having a 50% off sale, EPIC giveaway, & bucket list feature on her blog. You can enter here for all of the fantastic books she is giving away, including an e-book of Imitation. 

The concept of a bucket list has become a big deal in my life over the past 18 months so I am SUPER excited about Laura’s idea to post about this! For me, a bucket list is something I keep so that I don’t forget to LIVE—something I’ve begun passionately pursuing: LIFE! Yes, I think real Living (capital "L") is something you have to pursue. Otherwise, you get comfortable and lazy and you stand/sit still until you find Life passing you by.

A while back, I went through a rough time and lost a baby. (You can read about Tyler here.) He was only five days old went he went to Heaven because of a bad heart. Losing him taught me a LOT about life, the fragility of it, and how fleeting it really is. It taught me that you only get to do this once and so what the hell was I waiting for? You don’t get a do-over so if you procrastinate or always speak of “future plans” of all those things you want to do, like “someday, I’ll _____," then someday never comes because you never let it.

In other words: Do it now! You might only have today!

My bucket list is kept on my bedroom wall because it’s important enough that I want to see my goals and desires every time I walk in. I took a paint pen and wrote the things I want to do. Things like: Buy a motorcycle (did that in December 2012!), take a ride in a hot air balloon, ride an elephant (this one is my favorite!), go to a professional basketball game, ride The Tail of the Dragon (it’s a motorcycle thing.), hit #1 on Amazon, travel everywhere (I have a shelf in my room that I wrote all of my bucket list destinations on.)

It’s funny. Once I wrote them, I saw them more as goals instead of far-off future dreams. It made them more real and present and I became more determined to experience them. Now, my favorite thing is to find new experiences, to do something I’ve never done before as often as possible, to live every day like it’s a bucket list kind of day.

And, being a writer, I found words that sum it up for me. I love this quote so much, I wrote it on the frame of my bedroom mirror:
“Write something worth reading or do something worth writing every single day.” –Benjamin Franklin

Another bucket list item: get more tattoos. My birthday was last Tuesday and look what I got:

Maktub. It means, "it is written." It's from The Alchemist by Paula Coelho and it's all about following your Path and fulfilling your Purpose. And learning to speak the Language of the Universe. If you haven't read it, you should. This book changed my life! 

Now, I want to know what's on your bucket list. Comment below and tell me one thing you want to do. Not one thing you HOPE to do or WISH to do, but WILL DO. I'll pick a winner at the end of the week to receive a swag pack in the mail including my brand new Imitation bookmarks!